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After being forced to immediately cancel classes on Monday afternoon due to positive testing for mold in sections of a Westchester school, district officials announced the school will remain closed temporarily.

An emergency closing of the K-8 school, Paideia School 15 in Yonkers, was ordered when ceiling tiles in the building tested positive for mold.

Officials said that “out of an abundance of caution, Paideia School 15 families and faculty were notified immediately and were evacuated to nearby Annunciation School."

Yonkers Public Schools Superintendent Edwin M. Quezada said that the building, serving approximately 576 students and 84 faculty and administrative staff, will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday. Sept. 25.

Quezada said that air and bulk samples of drop ceiling tiles were conducted over the weekend after spotting was noticed on some classroom ceilings. Approximately a quarter of the samples taken tested positive for mold.

Upon learning of the positive results, the Yonkers Board of Education along with Dr. Quezada immediately evacuated the school to Annunciation School at 465 Westchester Avenue, according to school emergency protocol.

Abatement of mold began on Monday afternoon.

“Our Paideia School 15 family has been notified of the emergency maintenance situation and the students and faculty all have been safely evacuated to our designed emergency location,” Quezada said in a statement. “We will be contacting families early this evening to update them on the status of the abatement and when the building will reopen.”

Updates are expected to be released as progress is made in the building. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.